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Simon Crean 'had series of meetings with Kevin Rudd'

Simon Crean held a series of "one-on-one" meetings with Kevin Rudd earlier this year to determine whether he would support the former prime minister in a leadership spill.

Mr Crean told The Australian that he wanted to see if Mr Rudd would take on a more inclusive style of leadership.

"I would not have been prepared to go down this path unless I believed (Mr Rudd) was prepared to change," he said.

"It was a really hard decision for me, given my background with Julia, who I'd mentored, supported and promoted."

The former opposition leader turned Trade Minister said he resisted calls to replace Ms Gillard up until the end of last year, despite her unpopularity with voters.

"That was the position I held firmly right up to the end of the year, but then when people come to you scratching their heads and we keep going down in the polls because we've made bad decisions for a whole range of reasons and we're not getting the message out, you come to the conclusion that you need the circuit-breaker," he said.

Mr Crean called for a leadership spill on March 21 and called for Mr Rudd to challenge Ms Gillard, while he announced his intention to stand for deputy leader.

Later that day Mr Rudd declared that he would not challenge Ms Gillard, and Mr Crean was sacked from the frontbench.

The next day Mr Rudd told reporters that he didn't think anyone was "expecting the spontaneous combustion of Simon Crean's speech."